Sprint partners with Pokémon Go creator

Sprint on Wednesday announced a partnership with the developer of Pokémon Go in a bid to pull fans of the popular location-based game into more than 10,500 of its stores in the United States.

Beginning Monday, Pokémon Go players can go to Sprint, Boost, and Sprint at RadioShack locations to recharge phones, get data plans, collect in-game items, including Poké Balls and eggs, and battle with their favorite characters, Sprint said in a news release.

The blockbuster game developed by Niantic, in which Japan’s Nintendo has a large stake, uses augmented reality and global positioning system mapping to make animated characters appear in the real world. Players see creatures overlaid on the nearby landscape that they see through a mobile phone camera.

Niantic said Overland Park-based Sprint is its first U.S. partner for Pokémon Go.

“This collaboration with Pokémon Go brings together two innovative, groundbreaking and creative brands,” said Marcelo Claure, Sprint’s CEO.

Niantic and Pokémon Co. International next Monday are scheduled to release details of a new Pokémon game.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Sprint partners with Pokémon Go creator."